Yesterday’s construction was like follows;
1. [Noun1] no [Subject] wa [Place] ni Arimasu.
example; Satou-san no Uchi wa Kyoto ni Arimasu. (Sato-san’s home is in Kyoto.)
Today’s construction is as follows;
2. [Person] wa [Place] ni Imasu.
example; Satou-san wa Toire no Mae ni Imasu. (Sato-san is in front of the restroom.)
1 uses “Arimasu”, but 2 uses “Imasu” for verb to describe existence. This difference came from the subjects;
– “Uchi” in 1 is a non-animal subject, therefore “Arimasu” is used.
– “Satou-san” in 2 is an animal/human subject, therefore “Imasu” is used.
I hope that you have already known well about how to choose “Arimasu”or “Imasu” when describing an existence of someone or something. Let us change our focus onto the issue of “which to use wa or ga?”
<subject + wa>
– Satou-san wa Toire no Mae ni Imasu. (Sato-san is in front of the restroom.)
<subject + ga>
– Toire no Mae ni Satou-san ga Imasu. (In front of the restroom, Sato-san is there.)
As to which to use “wa” or “ga” for the subject marker, this blog has already shown the followings;
– When the predicate is an important information, “wa” is used as subject marker.
– When the subject is an important information, “ga” is used as subject marker.
another explanation is;
– When the speaker and the listener share what the subject is, “wa” is used as subject marker.
Probably the above implies the following;
– When the subject is a new information to the listener, “ga” is used as subject marker.
Then, let me add other explanations. Maybe I need to call them not explanations but examples.
– If “ga” is used for subject in a question, use “ga” in your answer.
– If “wa” is used for subject in a question, use “wa” in your answer.
Example1 (for “ga”)
A : Toire no Mae ni Dare ga Imasuka.
B : Toire no Mae ni Satou-san ga Imasu.
Example2 (for “ga”)
A : Doko ni Satou-san ga Imasuka.
B : Toire no Mae ni Satou-san ga Imasu.
Example3 (for “wa”)
A : Satou-san wa Doko ni Imasuka.
B : Satou-san wa Toire no Mae ni Imasu.
For the issue of which to use “wa” or “ga” for the subject marker, there are still other explanations. Let me tell them later. But the basic thing is that “wa” is more broadly used as the subject marker than “ga”. So, when starting Japanese learning as a second language, “wa” should be taught first. Teaching “ga” needs to be done later than “wa”.
This post was written with reference to the exercise A5 on Section 10 of “Minna no Nihongo” published by “3A Corporation”
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